“Marriage [is] between one man and one woman forever leading to life and love,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“That’s not something that’s just a religious, sacramental concern,” said Dolan, the Archbishop of New York. “But it’s also the building block of society and culture. So it belongs to culture. And if we water down that sacred meaning of marriage in any way, I worry that not only the church would suffer, I worry that culture and society would.”

He stressed that marriage is a sacrament in accordance with God’s commandments.

“You bet it is that,” said Dolan.

Host David Gregory pointedly asked Dolan if civil unions make him personally “uncomfortable.”

“It would,” Dolan quickly replied.

Dolan nevertheless commended Pope Francis for taking a measured approach to the issue, referring to recent reports in the Italian press that said the pope could envision the church someday accepting gay civil unions.

“Once again in an extraordinarily sincere, open nuanced way, he said, ‘I know that some people in some states have chosen this. We need to think about that and look into it and see the reasons that have driven them,’” said Dolan. “It wasn’t as if he came out and approved them.”

Dolan continued, “In the sensitivity that has won the heart of the world, he said, ‘Rather than quickly condemn them … let’s just ask the questions as to why that is appealing to certain people?’”